Mobile Home Falls Off Trailer Onto I-94 In NW Indiana
CHESTERTON, Ind. (STMW) -- Half of a double-wide mobile home broke free from its bindings and fell off a semi trailer onto I-94, blocking two lanes in northwest Indiana on Tuesday morning.
Indiana State Police said a 1982 International truck, owned by Star Fleet Inc. of Goshen, Ind., was hauling half of a double-wide mobile home -- measuring about 16 feet by 76 feet -- from northbound Route 49 to westbound I-94 near Chesterton about 10:15 a.m.
The 2014 Champion home, manufactured in Topeka, Ind., was being transported to Sioux City, Iowa when it slipped from its securement, state police said.
"As the semi was coming around the curve of northbound 49 to I-94 westbound the home shifted, causing the bolts to break, bend and come out," a statement from ISP said.
This caused the home to fall off onto two lanes of westbound I-94, blocking the ramp and roadway, ISP said.
The driver, Tracy L. Blocher, 41 of Pierceton, Ind., was being accompanied by by two vehicle escorts. No one was injured, but he was cited for inadequate securement and inoperative trailer brakes, ISP said.
The home, weighing about 40,000 pounds, sustained "several thousand dollars in damage," according to ISP.
Waffco Towing is on the scene as of 11:45 a.m. trying to lift the mobile home back onto its frame, and the ramp from northbound 49 to westbound I-94 remains closed, as do the two right lanes of the expressway.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
